Against the Wall
by earthfire75
Summary: Rose wakes from a nightmare after she and the Doctor deal with The Wire and Rose takes their relationship to a new level.


The Doctor couldn't sleep. Every time he tried, images of Rose, faceless, would invade his mind. He'd failed her…again. He came to the galley for some tea to calm his nerves, but that really wasn't working, with his hands shaking as badly as they were, it was practically impossible to drink it, so he simply stared down at it while he fought to keep the tears that occasionally threatened from spilling. _So damn human in this form,_ he thought, _and so bloody tactile. _His need to constantly touch her, to be near her clouded his judgment, at times. And since New Earth, after Cassandra had possessed her and practically snogged the life out of him…it had become a guilty pleasure to brush his lips against her temple or the tip of her head. Even their hugs had become more and more frequent…and lingering. He was brought out of his musings by the sound of running water.

"Wha-?"

Rose was standing at the sink, refilling the kettle with water. And wearing a nightgown that barely covered anything… He averted his eyes, back to the mug of tea in front of him, though he couldn't help looking back at her out of the corners of his eyes while she had her back to him.

She stifled a giggle at startling the Doctor. "Sorry. You looked like you were lost in thought. Didn't want to disturb you. Couldn't sleep, either?" she asked, concerned.

He cleared his throat, which seemed suddenly dry, "No. No, I couldn't." His brows furrowed as he looked back down at his mug. He wondered if she couldn't sleep for the same reasons he couldn't and that thought bothered him more that he'd like. But then, it always did bother him more when the dangers of their adventures disturbed Rose. She, thankfully, barely remembered the events that had brought forth Bad Wolf and his current regeneration, but it had taken almost a month for the nightmares of Cassandra's possession to finally stop. Now The Wire may have brought back new nightmares Rose would have to suffer through. "Are – are you alright? You didn't have a nightmare…did you?"

"M'fine." She answered, but avoided his question about nightmares. She did have one, but she didn't want to tell him. She knew he'd make a fuss, blame himself for it. He always did, even when he wore leather like armor. He always blamed himself whenever something happened to her, even when it was clearly her own fault. So she often kept her nightmares to herself, unless the TARDIS told on her…

The Doctor started to look in her direction, to look her over, until he remembered she was in nothing but a very short, nearly see-through, nightgown and averted his eyes again. "You're sure you're alright? I could get you something, from the med-bay, to help you sleep. If you want."

"Yeah, m'fine, really. Stop fussin'." She reached up to get down her mug as the Doctor snuck another look at her out of the corners of his eyes. Her nightgown rode up, exposing a scrap of dark blue lace that matched her gown. The Doctor stiffened and quickly looked straight ahead at the doorway. He really should leave…now. But he couldn't move, rooted to the spot where he sat, because there was no way to leave the galley without moving past Rose and he didn't trust himself not to touch her…or worse.

His eyes widened when he felt her come up behind him, her bare arm came over his shoulder to set her mug down next to his, then her hands where on his shoulders, fingers kneading his flesh gently.

"You sure you're ok? You're tense." Concern laced her voice

He took a drink of his now cold tea and forced a smile, though he was starting to relax under her ministrations. "Just…rough day, yeah?"

"Yeah," she agreed.

Rose reached back over the Doctor's shoulder after a bit to take a drink of her tea, and again to set it back down, but as she retracted her arm, the Doctor captured her wrist, brought it to his lips and inhaled deeply.

"Doctor?"

He immediately let go of her wrist and stood, moving toward the doorway. "I'm sorry, Rose." He refused to even partly look back toward her, knowing if he did he wouldn't stop at simply hugging her, or exchanging one of their chaste kisses. He knew he'd break every one of his stupid rules, so he kept moving without looking back. He was good at that.

_Oh, no you don't_, she thought as she watched the Doctor leave the galley. She'd caught him looking at her before, when he thought she didn't notice. She'd also taken notice that their hugs where lasting longer, especially after a particularly dangerous outing. Much like the one earlier. He's even taken to chaste kisses from time to time, on her temple or in her hair. He's never kissed her anywhere as intimate as her wrist before, and never so…lovingly? Rose rushed out of the galley and down the hall in the direction the Doctor had tuned.

"Doctor?" she called and he stopped, keeping his back to her.

"What do you need, Rose?" he asked softly. He could hear her feet against the metal grating of the floor as she approached him. Rose moved in front of him where he stood and he closed his eyes to keep from looking at her, or rather, staring at certain parts of her he shouldn't be staring at. And he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers to keep from touching her, particularly touching her in places he really shouldn't be touching.

"Doctor"… She said his name in a low, husky voice. She had stepped closer, he could feel her, smell her. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "You," she said softly.

"Rose"… He tried to put a trace of warning in his voice, but even to him it sounded more like begging. He felt tugging on his suit jacket and when he finally opened his eyes, he saw she was unbuttoning it and he couldn't bring himself to stop her and her cleaver fingers soon began work on his oxford.

"I need you."

"Rose"… he whispered her name like a prayer, withdrawing his hands from his pockets to reach for her as she pushed his jacket and shirt off and began to unhitch his trousers.

He growled possessively when his trousers came undone, no longer able to control his desire, his need for her. His hands found her flesh, under her nightgown. In a flash, he had turned her so her back was against the wall, his knees between her legs, pushing her gown slowly up, feeling her soft skin beneath his hands. Rose lifted her arms above her head, allowing him to remove her gown, exposing herself to him. She'd wanted this, even before Cassandra, but she had to admit, at least to herself, that it was then she realized the depth of what she felt for the Doctor. It had become more than fantasies late at night, in the dark of her bedroom. If he never lay with her, it wouldn't change how she felt. She would give him her forever either way. And here they were…about to show each other just how much they wanted…needed each other. Against the wall…


End file.
